Today's Story Line

BOSTON
— Muslim Kosovars in refugee camps are becoming radicalized, just as many Afghans, Palestinians, and others did in their camps in decades past.

The United States has quietly criticized Pakistan for starting the latest conflict with India over the disputed Kashmir territory. Pakistan wants international mediation to fulfill its claim to Kashmir.

In Egypt, which already has a reputation for tight press controls, a new law greatly restricts the freedom of private activist groups - notably those that record human rights violations.

REPORTERS ON THE JOB.. *'CIRCLE TIME' THERAPY: When staff writer Jon Landay first walked up to a UNICEF-monitored circle of laughing, singing preteen children at a refugee camp in Albania, he was reminded of the kind of "circle time" enjoyed by his own much younger son back home. Then he asked his translator to tell him what the young ethnic Albanians were singing. They were songs about atrocities, Jon says, about spring coming to Kosovo's Drenica region - hard hit by "ethnic cleansing" - but the normally lush grass being burned there, and people being slaughtered. There were also harshly worded, politicized songs and poems about revenge against Serbs. UNICEF officials on hand explained that the children are encouraged to let out their anger in this way. Later, it will be explained to them that Serb children, too, faced the horrors of war, and share their sadness. The process of reconciliation will have to take baby steps, officials said.

FUTURE NEWS... * SOUTH AFRICA: In Friday's paper, we'll analyze the results of the June 2 election in South Africa. Opposition parties are worried that the African National Congress may win a two-thirds majority in Parliament, giving it the power to change the Constitution. On Tuesday, the ANC asked voters for "an overwhelming mandate" to "accelerate change."